Nexus 5
Latest
Nexus 5 review: the best phone $350 can buy
When you're shopping for a smartphone, what do you expect to get for less than $400 without a contract? Certainly not a top-of-the-line device, right? Until recently, that kind of price has been reserved for devices that were mid-range at best, or entry-level at worst. Ever since the gorgeous and powerful Nexus 4 came out last year for $300 on the Play Store, however, it's been clear Google is trying to give the high-end, $600-plus Android flagships a run for their money. Now the company's back with the Nexus 5, a power user's dream that sells for $350 and features some of the same specs you'd expect to see in a top-shelf device. That is, if you can even get your hands on one. The device sold out in less than two hours, and new orders won't get fulfilled for at least a few weeks. But what's so intriguing about the Nexus 5 that it's causing such a ruckus on the Play Store? It's a $350 flagship phone with the serenity of a pure Android experience and all the trimmings, that's what. The question is, can you survive the estimated three to five week waiting time?
Nexus 5 torn down, easily put back together again
There are few things worse than doing a full product teardown, only to find that, well, you're not likely to get that thing back in one piece anytime soon. By all accounts, however, it was pretty smooth sailing for the folks at iFixit when they took the new Nexus 5 to the surgical whitebox (one utterance of the word "flustercluck" aside), ultimately awarding the LG-made handset an 8 out of 10 for repairability. That high score comes thanks to a modular design that allows for the relatively easy replacement of things like the headphone jack and speakers. The screws here are standard and the adhesive is "mild." Looks like we've got a night of minor surgery ahead of us.
Google's Nexus 5 is a steal, unless you buy it from a UK carrier
16GB PAYG 32GB PAYG SIM Price O2 N/A £549.99 Free Three £399.99 N/A Free Google Play £299.99 £339.99 Free Price Difference £100 £210 N/A Buy the device from Google's Play Store (Carphone Warehouse is also offering the 16GB model for £295) and order a free pay-as-you-go SIM to go with it -- or you can, of course, use your own. [Thanks, MartinS27!]
Nexus 5 launcher and apps ripped from factory image, available for download
Can't wait for your freshly ordered Nexus 5 to show up? This might grab your attention: the Android community has already ripped a handful of the phone's apps from Google's official factory image. Droid-Life has collected the essential applications (calendar, clock, email, camera hangouts, and others), but the full Nexus 5 experience requires Google Play Services, Google Home (the new launcher) and the revamped Google Search, specifically. As always, side-load with caution -- these apps were built specifically for the Nexus 5, and there's no telling how they'll affect a device running Sense or CyanogenMod. It may not be a full upgrade to KitKat, but it could be enough to tide over the impatient. Feeling brave? Check out the list of available apps at the source link below.
Google debuts new wireless charging pad with support for Nexus 5 and 7
Last year, Google unveiled a new wireless charging pad alongside the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10, and the company has taken advantage of 2013 to come up with another one. This new charging pad has been announced in tandem with the Nexus 5, and will include support for it and the Nexus 7. It's supposed to go on sale in the Play Store today, though pricing is still an unknown. So what's different this time around? The new pad, which should work with any device that offers Qi compatibility, has been completely redesigned (it's shaped like a square instead of a hockey puck) and now features magnets that will make it easier for devices to stick on it -- provided those phones and tablets in question have magnets built in as well. We'll have more information about the chargers as we get it, so stay tuned! Nicole Lee contributed to this post.
Android 4.4 KitKat lets you say 'OK Google' to activate touchless search
"Okay Google." Those Touchless Controls aren't just for the Moto X anymore -- they're now part and parcel of the Nexus 5. With today's unveiling of Google's (terribly leaked) Nexus 5, we're getting a first look at Android 4.4 KitKat on the handset, and that OS update comes with some significant tweaks to Search and Now. For starters, Nexus 5 users will have the ability to set hot keywords as a means of activating or "waking up" Now voice search. So, presumably, this means you'll be able to link any word you'd like to start barking voice commands at Now. Just don't be surprised if Now talks back to you: KitKat also apparently allows for a dialogue of sorts between users and the handset to refine search queries. This could be especially useful when directing Now to access contacts by first name. For example, saying "Text Jennifer" could result in it asking you to specify, "Which Jennifer?" It's smart control made smarter. But that's just the tip of the improvements Google's made to its Now and Search product. Overall, speech recognition is said to have been made 25% more accurate and manual access to Now can be triggered by a swipe to the left (Nexus 5-only, for now) -- no longer a swipe from the bottom of the screen up. Now has also been outfitted with a wider array of "contextual cards." It's yet another step in making Google's digital assistant even more prescient, as it will now display information based on a user's current activity, like Fandango for ticket listings if you're at a theatre, or even updates on a favorite TV show you've searched for previously. And going even further, Google Now will also provide "deep links" to applications you've installed on the handset. In the use case Google provided, this means that a recipe search won't just display link results, but will also ping up the AllRecipes app or even OpenTable, if you're on the hunt for a restaurant. Though all of these Search tweaks are bundled into the Nexus 5 for now, they should soon rollout to other Nexus devices as Android 4.4 KitKat is made more widely available.
LG's Nexus 5 visits the FCC again, this time with clearer external shots
New FCC documents spotted by Phone Scoop have given us a closer look at what could be LG's rumored Nexus 5 handset. Curiously, photos of this D820 were filed alongside documentation for Verizon's G2 (VS980), but the clear view of the front and back appears to be of the same LG-branded smartphone that was approved by the FCC just a week ago. The D820 offers same rounded-off top and bottom edges found on the Nexus 4, while stepping away from the glass-covered back of its predecessor. Last week's FCC filing also points to LG including a 5-inch display and a Snapdragon 800 SoC, boosting not only its size but performance too. There's also room for Qi wireless charging and support for 7-band LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and dual-band 802.11 b/g/n/ac. While the shots don't feature the same giant Nexus logo we saw on the mysterious LG phone used by a Google employee recently, we're almost certainly looking at the same device. We just hope he got to keep his job.
